The Buzz

In a letter published in the Oct. 28 OC Register, Larry Gilbert wrote: “Having been active in Mission Viejo council elections for 20 years, I was surprised to see the Register endorse candidates for the first time this year. Editorial board members interviewed more than 200 candidates in Orange County very quickly, which must have limited their ability to truly vet these candidates. The O.C. GOP rejected their nominating committee recommendations when facts about Frank Ury and lobbyist Wendy Buchnum were revealed. The California Republican Assembly submitted extensive questionnaires to each Republican candidate and endorsed Cathy Schlicht and Ed Sachs. The most conservative small government candidate this year is Cathy Schlicht. Unlike Ury and Bucknum, Schlicht did not accept any special interest money.”

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Council candidates spend significant amounts on yard signs, and they are right to complain when their signs are stolen. In Mission Viejo, signs are taken from public property, homeowner association common areas, businesses and residents’ yards. While various laws protect the signs, it is reasonable to say only property owners have the right to remove signs from their property. Mission Viejo’s city staff directs such contractors as Jamie Clark to confiscate signs.

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In addition to the city staff involving itself in campaign shenanigans of removing signs, the expense to taxpayers cannot be justified. As soon as contractors take the signs, candidates immediately replace them. The city cites “code enforcement” as its excuse for taking signs from public property, and that’s humorous, given the city staff’s long history of selective enforcement of city code regarding signs. Add to that, evidence presented during the Oct. 15 council meeting demonstrated the city staff is engaged in discussions with developers of electronic billboards. Residents should scoff at the idea the city is protecting them from the blight of campaign signs.

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City Manager Dennis Wilberg pressured the Saddleback Valley News editor into blocking unfavorable articles, investigative reporting and letters to the editor that are critical of City Hall. The news blackout has severely impacted the flow of information to the point residents get only propaganda from City Hall and no balanced reporting. The Oct. 26 issue of Saddleback Valley News was an exception, with two letters to the editor in opposition to Wilberg’s faves Wendy Bucknum and Frank Ury. The text was dramatically edited in at least one of the letters, so this was no victory for free speech. Is it predictable that SVN will give Bucknum and Ury free rein in the Nov. 2 issue, with a pretense of balance? Such a last-minute advertisement with no opportunity for rebuttal is not balance.

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The latest presidential poll as of this writing is Rasmussen Reports, ending Oct. 27. The poll of 1,500 likely voters shows Romney with 50 percent and Obama at 47 percent. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html